KUTZTOWN, Pa. (Nov. 19) – The Vulcans suffered an 80-65 loss at No. 14 Kutztown, which advanced to the championship of the NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament last year, on Saturday afternoon to open Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover play.
With the loss, the California University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team falls to 2-2 overall. Meanwhile, the Golden Bears improve to 3-0 on the year after being chosen as the preseason favorite in the PSAC East.
Freshman guard
Ramon Creighton (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) led all scorers with 14 points, including 10 in the second half, on three-of-five from beyond the arc and three-of-four from the foul line. He also added four assists against Kutztown.
Junior transfer
Robel Teckle (Washington, D.C./Friendship Collegiate Academy) added 12 points and classmate
Daniel Sapp (Streetsboro, Ohio/Streetsboro) collected 10 points and six rebounds in 29 minutes of action on Saturday afternoon. Junior forward
Tony Richardson (Sterling, Va./Dominion) collected a team-high 11 rebounds in the loss.
The Vulcans jumped out to an early 8-7 lead before the Golden Bears mounted an 8-0 run to take a 15-8 lead. A layup from junior
Cordell Smith (Cleveland, Ohio/Shaw) led to an 11-7 run from the Vulcans to cut the deficit to 22-19. The Golden Bears responded with a 10-3 run to take a 32-22 lead with 7:26 remaining in the first half. A three-pointer from Sapp sparked a 13-9 run from the Vulcans to pull within 41-35 at halftime.
Cal U pulled within 46-44 after opening the second half on a 9-5 run. Kutztown went on a 13-4 rally to take a 59-48 lead with 10:01 remaining in the contest. A three-pointer from Teckle cut the lead to 59-51 before Kutztown responded with a 12-5 run to extend the lead to 71-56 midway through the second half. Two free-throws from Creighton made the score 71-58 before Kutztown went on a 7-1 run to take a 78-59 lead. Cal U scored six of the final eight points to fall 80-65.
The Vulcans finished the game shooting 69.6 percent (16-of-23) from the free-throw line and 47.8 percent (11-23) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Golden Bears finished shooting 48.5 percent (33-of-68) from the field despite shooting making 18.2 percent (2-of-11) from beyond the arc in the first half. Cal U finished with a slight 38-34 rebounding advantage behind 12 offensive rebounds.
Kutztown redshirt senior Ryan Connolly finished with a game-high 20 points after shooting 7-of-14 from the field. He also added six rebounds, four steals and two assists in 38 minutes. Classmate Josh Johnson recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Cal U continues its weekend road trip with crossover play tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 20 when it travels to face Mansfield at 3 p.m.
